I am a wuss. A very shy, didn't use to have a lot of self-confidence wuss. A year after I graduated from college, my friend who lived in the area, had a Christmas party. i saw a cute guy standing under the mistletoe, and I went over and k*ssed him. what can I say? never went anywhere, but I think he was a flattered as i was surprised at myself for doing it!

The other was attending my 25th HS reunion. I was on the fence, but asked a friend and said if you go, i will. I almost chickened out a week before, but kept telling myself if I didn't go, I'd probably regret it. Also, my friend "outed" me on the reunion FB page saying we were both going. I am so glad I did as I had a blast, reconnected with a lot of folks, and am looking forward to my 30th next year!

I flew down to Haiti, alone, to teach music at a school for disabled former street children. To say that the venture turned out to be a soul-crushing mistake would be a massive understatement. It did teach me that I would prefer to restrict any future vacations to first-world countries, though (Also: kreyole is very, very different from both French and English. I went down there assuming I would be able to communicate, and I was wrong. Written kreyole is similar to phonetic french, so I was able to write things down, but that doesn't help when a large portion of the population can't read.)

Non-physical: resigned after 23 years in the same facility, when I was only 5.5 years from retiring with a full pension (last November). I am now working on getting a job in the private sector, rather than in the provincially-run health care system.

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I dream of a world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned.

I was on playground duty at my K-6 school.Some girls raced up to me saying that there was a man in the girls'toilets.I quickly went down there and confronted the guy.I told him to f#ck off before I called the police.He took off quick smart.We called the police anyway,they interviewed me.It was only then that I realised how dangerous a situation it was.Fortunately there were no girls present when the man was in there.

This might seem like a lazy girl's bravery, but to me it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I was in 5th grade, painfully (and I do mean painfully) shy. They were casting parts for the Christmas play. The teacher asked if anyone wanted to audition for this one of the leads. My hand shot up in the air almost with a mind of it's own. My teacher was so surprised and shocked that she gave the part to me. The epilog is that I learned the part, rehearsing with my year-younger sister, who was also in the play. I got a cold the week of the performance, they couldn't hear me in the back row, so my sister got to do my part. I got her line, "And we can have some chocolate." Grrrr.

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I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

You can just barely see the boot tracks in the snow in this photo... that is the way across a "little snow patch" I'd been told about that ended up being a 300-yard-wide, steep, and very very exposed Traverse of Terror on the way to the summit of Crystal Peak, near Mt. Rainier.

Even better: I was the only woman in a climbing party of eight.

Edited to add: No, I didn't climb Mt. Rainier itself. I climbed a peak within a couple of miles of it that was about half Rainier's height. The view in the photo is of the snowfield about a mile (and 1000 vertical feet) down from the summit of Crystal Peak. Overall we had to hike 3100 vertical feet in 4 miles to get to the summit. So the "drop" down from the snowfield in the photo is about 2000 feet to the bottom of the mountain. In other words, a slip-and-fall from that height and angle would have been fatal.

« Last Edit: February 28, 2013, 06:07:33 AM by Waterlight »

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“The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abseiling down a cliff, getting half way down and sitting down against the rock face (feet pointing up the cliff), then laying down (so head pointing downwards), then letting go of the rope and stretching my arms out straight...actually, that last part was what I was SUPPOSED to do. I don't actually remember if I actually got into the full position or if I couldn't quite make myself let go of the rope!

Walking the length of an Israeli Wadi along an unfenced a goat track that ran roughly thirty or forty feet up the wadi wall with a sheer drop to the wadi floor. (It was probably a trek of about three or four miles, all told. THEN, of course, we had to climb OUT of the wadi to meet the coach...)

None of those sound terribly impressive, until you realise that I have absolutely NO head for heights. The first one was the only time I've ever let anyone talk me into doing something I didn't want to do (I was about twelve at the time and didn't have the spine to say "Not on your life!"); the second was on an adventure holiday and actually wasn't too bad because most of the time you're not actually looking down at all...letting go of the rope though...not so much!; the third one was definitely the worst, though. I was an absolute wreck by the time we got to the coach, and I got no sympathy of anyone because "We're all tired", no, I'm not "tired" I'm "terrified". There's a difference.

Then there was the school talent show where I sang a Madonna song, dressed in a VERY low-cut top, very VERY short mini-skirt and, effectively, propositioned my head mistress...

This is more general than specific, but as I got older, I was able to go up to someone, say working in a store, or in that type of situation, say excuse me, and ask them whatever I needed to. This sounds minor, but being painfully, extremely shy as a child, it was paralyzing for me to do anything like this. Now, as an adult in my 40's, I'm the opposite. I have a friend who told me, and I took this as a compliement "I've never known you NOT to speak your mind"

Its sad to me that so many are disparaging of their own accomplishments and daring acts. They all sound awesome to me! I also find it interesting that the most daring thing we've done is our own definition of daring. Its different for everyone, so don't knock yourselves!

I've moved to four different states (US) to live and work where I didn't know a soul. I've made life-long friends in some of these places, but not in all.

Drove across the US by myself, during the winter, just to say that I had done it.

Did a tandem parachute skydive--would love love to do it again.

Gave a technical presentation to my entire company. This is probably the biggest one. I have a real fear of public speaking, and I actually volunteered to do this presentation because I felt the project was important enough.

Traveled to Thailand and Cambodia alone (although with a small group (of strangers) and a guide once in those countries).

Walked half way, okay a third of the way, okay 100 feet across the bridge at Deception Pass on Whidbey Island near Seattle. Yeah, I can't take heights.

I have to say singing onstage in front of a few hundred people without advanced warning and preparation.

A few years ago, I was visiting my best male friend overseas, and we went to a mall one of the days. A local radio station was doing a roadshow thing partly to promote the reopening of a large department store. It was also at the time that X Factor UK auditions were being televised so they were getting people onstage to sing a bit. The DJ asked anyone else, and I noticed my friend shaking his head and said "pick her" referring to me. So the DJ had me come on stage but I gave my purse to my friend to hold onto, and I am sure no one hassled him as he is fairly tall.

I got onstage, and the DJ was shocked that a local wasn't picked when he asked my name, where I was from and name of my favorite artist. Then he said "what will you sing" and I picked a song by the artist that had been released recently and was a local hit of sorts. I sang acapella, did not get booed and got applause. Then I was handed 20 pounds worth of vouchers to the department store as a prize.

I got my payback the next day as I dragged my friend into the store and he had to stand with other guys outside the changing rooms while I picked out a few outfits!

The most daring thing I ever did was go to a BoxFit class. I have never been so nervous. Job interviews, performances, speeches and presentations are all easy but hoiking myself out of my comfort zone and taking that first step took bravery.

In a similar story, I'd had two initial shooting lessons and had been out for another hour with a friend when I went to a Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club meeting. I was advised that it would probably be really tweedy and snooty, but it was down to earth and friendly and really nice. I shot reasonably well (i.e. I only hit clay pigeons!) and I met lots of really nice people. If any UK people want to try clay shooting I can recommend this as a brilliant way to start.

I'm getting jealous of all the brave feats described here! My own acts of bravery are just personal victories of me pushing myself out of my comfort zone:

-Went to Greece when I didn't know the language-Went to NYC for a day trip all by myself-Took Latin dance lessons without a partner-Gave a speech at Independence Hall-Walked across a rope bridge (a single rope for feet, two ropes for hand-held balance)